Part of the terrifying encounter with the intruder was caught on camera.
The incident happened Sunday around 6:20 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Neighbors watched a man walk around the neighborhood for at least an hour. Tucker, known for his role in the TV series "Kingdom," ran in to help as soon as the suspect entered one of the homes.
A mother and her three young children were inside. The woman didn't want to speak on camera, but said she told her daughters to run outside toward the back of the house. She added the man was just standing in the hallway. The intruder was found by police in a bedroom closet.
Tucker had seen the man walking around the area and ran into his neighbor's house right after the intruder walked in.
Minutes later, armed police officers showed up. Footage shows police walk the man out in handcuffs.
Another video shows the woman's husband and Tucker run into the home. Moments later, the mother is seen with her baby and Tucker was carrying out another child.
"My mom was walking our dog, and she came in and she's like 'Oh my gosh, someone broke in next door,'" a Hancock Park resident told Eyewitness News.
The neighbor added that the man was apparently going door to door and seeing if the doors were unlocked. She said she thought it was strange but didn't think anything more of it.
"It just gives you a feeling of being violated. It's scary, especially with kids," she said.
Neighbors say the suspect appeared to be talking to himself and seemed disoriented. He did not physically harm the family.
The man was medically evaluated and was believed to be suffering from a mental illness episode, the LAPD said.
Aside from his role on "Kingdom," Tucker has appeared on the shows "Westworld," "Parenthood," and the films "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (2003) and "Charlie's Angels" (2019).